The word “dove” has had multiple meanings throughout history. In modern times, “dove” most commonly refers to a specific type of bird – the domestic pigeon. However, the word originally had a very different meaning.
The Origins of “Dove”
“Dove” comes from the Old English word “dūfe”. This is derived from the Germanic word “dūbō”, meaning “diver”. In Old English, “dove” simply meant “a diving bird”. It was a general term that could be used for any type of diving bird, such as a puffin or loon.
The word “dove” started to take on its more specific meaning around the 13th century. Around this time, “dove” began being used to refer specifically to the smaller, delicate-looking members of the pigeon family that we now know as doves.
The Dove as a Symbol
Well before the word “dove” took on its current ornithological meaning, it had developed symbolic connotations of peace and love. This metaphorical meaning dates back over 3000 years and stems from ancient Semitic cultures in the Middle East.
In various early Semitic religions, the dove was revered as a symbol of fertility, womanhood, and the renewal of life. The cooing of doves was thought to be a love song announcing the arrival of spring.
This association with fertility also connected the dove to the concept of the Mother Goddess in ancient Middle Eastern cultures. Doves were seen as the earthly representatives of the Mother Goddess due to their abundant fertility and maternal instincts when rearing young.
The dove came to symbolize love in the ancient Middle East because doves were supposed to mate for life. A pair of doves symbolized enduring marital bliss.
The dove was also symbolic of the passage from childhood to sexual maturity. Doves were sometimes used in coming-of-age rituals for young women as they entered adulthood and the prospect of marriage.
The Dove in Judaism and Christianity
In Judaism, the dove was adopted as a symbol of hope and new beginnings. For example, after the flood in Genesis, Noah sends out a dove which returns with an olive branch, showing waters are receding.
Christianity retained the dove’s symbolism of hope, peace, and new beginnings. In the New Testament, the Spirit of God is said to descend on Jesus like a dove after his baptism.
The dove reappears alongside Jesus in two other significant passages:
| Gospel | Significance of the Dove |
| Matthew 10:16 | Jesus tells his followers “Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves; so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves.” This contrasts the innocence of the dove with the cunning of the serpent. |
| John 2:13-16 | Jesus finds moneychangers in the temple of Jerusalem and drives them out, overturning their tables. He specifically condemns them for turning the temple into “a house of trade” instead of a house of prayer. |
Based on these passages, the dove came to represent gentleness, harmlessness, innocence, and peace in Christianity.
The Dove as a Symbol of Love and Fertility
The ancient association of the dove with fertility, procreation, and the Mother Goddess continued in Greco-Roman mythology. Aphrodite/Venus, the goddess of love and beauty, was sometimes depicted with doves.
Doves pulled the chariot of Freyja, the Norse goddess of fertility, sex, and romantic love. Doves were considered birds of love sacred to Freyja.
In Roman mythology, Venus’s son Cupid is described shooting arrows to make people fall in love. Cupid was later depicted shooting love arrows at lovers while accompanied by doves.
Due to these myths, doves became an emblem of love and fertility in ancient Greek and Roman culture. They were associated with human romance as well as springtime awakening and renewal of nature.
After the rise of Christianity, the dove’s amorous symbolism led to it being seen as a morally suspect creature in some conservative Christian sects. The dove’s “wanton” mating habits made it an ambivalent symbol that represented both purity and promiscuity.
Dove Imagery in Love Poetry
The dove remained a standard symbol of love in Western poetry throughout the Middle Ages and Renaissance. Some examples:
| Poet | Sample Poem |
| Ovid | “And Venus’ dove, gliding on silver wings through the air…” (Ars Amatoria, c. 2 AD) |
| John Donne | “Thou art all constancy, Yet change in thee ; For, since my life begun, Thou lovest more, and more, And more and more ; And still thy life is done.” (Love’s Usury, c.1600s) |
| William Shakespeare | “Hark! Hark! The lark at heaven’s gate sings, And Phoebus ‘gins arise, His steeds to water at those springs On chaliced flowers that lies; And winking Mary-buds begin to ope their golden eyes…” (Cymbeline, 1623) |
Here the “silver dove” of Venus represents wanton sexuality, while the dove’s constancy represents committed enduring love. In the Shakespeare passage, “Mary-buds” refer to marigolds, which resembled the Virgin Mary’s gold and silver embellished garments. This continues the dove’s association with feminine divinity.
The Dove as a Peace Symbol
The dove first began being used as a symbol of peace in the early modern period. During the 18th century’s Age of Enlightenment, the dove was reconsidered as a symbol of reason triumphing over irrationality.
French philosopher Voltaire called the dove “le symbole du Saint-Esprit” – the symbol of the Holy Spirit. He implied the dove represented rational thought and wisdom.
In 1797, the English abolitionist Josiah Wedgwood published a famous anti-slavery medallion with the image of a chained African slave and the caption “Am I Not a Man and a Brother?”. The medallion’s reverse side featured a kneeling slave with chained hands lifted heavenward. Above him is a dove carrying a scroll with the word “Peace”.
This image tied the dove directly to abolitionism and the enlightenment goal of peacefully achieving equality and human rights. It set the precedent for the dove as a peace symbol advocating nonviolent social change.
Picasso’s Dove of Peace
The modern peace dove owes its primary symbolism to Picasso’s lithograph, La Colombe, created for the World Peace Congress in Paris in 1949.
Picasso’s simple visual metaphor – a dove with an olive branch in its beak – powerfully conveyed a message of hope for peace after the horrors of World War II. Picasso chose the dove because doves and pigeons were everywhere in the streets of Paris.
The World Peace Council adopted Picasso’s dove as its official symbol. After the WPC, use of the dove spread rapidly worldwide as a logo for various peace movements protesting violence and militarism.
Today, public monuments like Coventry Cathedral’s Charred Cross and Golden Dove sculpture ensure the dove remains a relevant symbol urging humanity to overcome violence with hope for peaceful change in the future.
Conclusion
The word “dove” originally meant a generic swimming bird before being restricted to its current taxonomic meaning. But well before this ornithological specification, the dove had already acquired rich symbolic connotations across the ancient Mediterranean cultures and their mythologies.
The dove’s ancient associations with feminine divinity made it a multivalent symbol that signified love, fertility, purity, sexuality, and renewal. These meanings endured in Western poetry and art through the present.
In the modern era, the dove reinvented itself once again as an emblem of rational enlightenment and the peaceful struggle against injustice. Picasso’s dove solidified this new meaning in the public consciousness by giving the dove of peace a simple visual form that is universally recognizable worldwide.
